THE SNP Government has been accused of having “contempt” for transparency laws after claiming it could not say whether Nicola Sturgeon received any emails from Alex Salmond last year.

Officials knocked back the request on the grounds they do not “keep a log” of every email received on a subject, which in this case related to the Government sexual misconduct probe into Salmond.

Labour MSP Neil Findlay said: “For over a decade now the SNP Government has shown nothing but contempt for basic principles of transparency and accountability that comes with freedom of information legislation.

“Given the questions rightly being asked of the government over how it handled the Alex Salmond allegations,it is vital that it finally starts acting within the letter and the spirit of FOI law.”

It was revealed last year that Sturgeon’s Government had launched an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment against Salmond when he was First Minister.

The probe, ultimately under the control of Government Permanent Secretary Leslie Evans, led to the findings being referred to the police.

Salmond blasted the handling of the investigation and successfully challenged its legality in the Court of Session.

However, he appeared in court last month charged with two counts of attempted rape, two of indecent assault, nine of sexual assault and one of breach of the peace. He denies any criminality.

The Herald on Sunday last month asked the Government for the number of emails that the offices of the First Minister and the Permanent Secretary received from Salmond, or his representatives, between January 1 last year and August 23.

The content of any emails was not requested, just the number of communications, but the response stated: “The Scottish Government does not have the information you have asked for because while we retain key documents as appropriate, we do not keep a log of every email received on a topic.”

One insider said the answer was “strange” as a search of a relatively small number of staff inboxes would be “straightforward”.

However, the response has raised further questions about the Government’s commitment to freedom of information.

Sturgeon met Salmond three times last year to discuss the misconduct probe, but no minutes were taken of the meetings.

It was also reported yesterday that Sturgeon’s officials blocked the release of a letter sent by the First Minister to Evans about her contact with Salmond.

On January 10, the First Minister told MSPs: “I was concerned that [a legal] challenge could be imminent, so I told the permanent secretary then that I knew about the investigation and I told her about the previous meeting, including the reference to a potential legal challenge.

“I told her that I supported her decision to investigate and that I would not seek to intervene in the investigation in any way.”

However, in response to an FoI request by the i newspaper, the Scottish Government said disclosure of the full letter “could prejudice a case currently in court in Scotland”.

Sturgeon’s chief of staff, Liz Lloyd, was also present at the meeting Sturgeon had with Salmond at her home, but her attendance was not in her official Government diary.